Giving Play to the Leading Role of Energy Cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative

Over the past two decades, as the main battlefield of China’s international energy cooperation, countries along the Belt and Road have had good foundations in the foreign investment. Through China’s efforts to build the Belt and Road, energy cooperation has enjoyed first-mover advantages. Looking ahead, the countries along the Belt and Road are predicted to enjoy a promising future in energy cooperation because of their abundant energy resources, their role as complements to China’s economic development, and their vast amounts of cooperation potential. At the same time, we are also keenly aware that there are a number of risks caused by geopolitics, policy changes, price fluctuations and legal compliance in energy cooperation among the countries along the Belt and Road. Moreover, it is urgent for Chinese enterprises to enhance their international capabilities. In this context, it is necessary to further maintain and make full use of their first-mover advantages and play a guiding and demonstrating role. Enterprises should actively adapt to new changes, while the government should make progress in policy coordination, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financed integration and people-to-people bonds, so as to keep deepening international energy cooperation and to build an energy silk road and a community with a shared future for energy.